Wednesday, 22 April 2015

In a couple of weeks we're off to see Octonauts and the Deep Sea Volcano Adventure at Wimbledon Theatre. This is great news for Noah as he is a big fan, already saying that for his birthday in July he wants an Octonauts party, so a suitably themed cake has been ordered!

If the Octonauts has passed you by then let me fill you in:

The Octonauts are a dynamic eight-member team of
quirky and courageous adventure heroes who dive into action whenever there is
trouble under the sea.

Equipped with a fleet of aquatic vehicles, they rescue
amazing sea creatures, explore incredible new underwater worlds, and often save
the day before returning safely to their home base, the octopod.

Based on the original books by Meomi, Octonauts is
animated by Brown Bag Films and continues to go from strength to strength as a
unique and exciting global pre-school brand.

In Octonauts and the Deep Sea Volcano Adventure the entire crew of the Octonauts, led by intrepid explorer Captain Barnacles, Lieutenant Kwazii and Medic Peso, embark on an exciting new underwater quest and visit amazing underwater worlds full of adventure, with surprises around every corner. This action-packed interactive show features new music (from BAFTA-award winning composer Mani Svavarsson) and all the Octonauts live on stage for the very first time.

Richard Lewis adapts and directs this new production for the stage. He also adapted and directed the hugely popular three Peppa Pig stage shows and last year’s Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom tour. Matt Lewis is lyricist, Simon Scullion is designer, Matt Haskins is lighting designer and Ian Horrocks Taylor is sound designer.

***You can also join in with the Octonauts fun as I have a family ticket to give away! The winner can choose their venue and performance, tickets subject
to availability. To find out where your nearest show is and dates visit the show website: www.octonautslive.co.uk ***

Tuesday, 21 April 2015

We’ve been meaning to go along to Big Fish Little Fish for a while and finally this weekend we went! We’d had a little taste of how fabulous it was going to be when we went along to the free Big Fish Little Fish event they held at The Southbank Centre as part of the Imagine Festival. We loved it and I knew that I wanted to go to one of the monthly events at The Bedford in Balham and I did a little dance around the room when Natasha invited us to come along as a family and see what it’s all about!

The event runs from 2 – 4.30pm on a Sunday afternoon and is only a 5 minute walk from the train station, and the journey from our house is half an hour – perfect – no driving required. We went along with our best friends and their kids, who had also come to the Southbank before and loved it. We already knew that the event was a sell out but rather wonderfully that didn’t mean that it was filled up to capacity – there was still plenty of space to move around, on the dance floor and in the upstairs craft room and chill out rooms.

On arrival the kids were given a glow stick each and then they hit the craft room, the theme was Mad Hatter's Party and Captain Cookie, the resident craft person had all the materials a kid would need to make a Mad hatter hat. It was genius! And it was all laid out so that the kids could adorn their hats with any extras, like playing cards and streamers. Isla got stuck in and I couldn’t resist being involved too. There was also a fabulous Alice in Wonderland mural for the kids to all colour in and add to, you could even buy a copy of it to take away to use at a party of your own – such a great idea! Also in the room was face painting and temporary tattoos, all included in the ticket price, which is something I really appreciate as so many places you go, you have to pay for a ticket then everything else is extra. There were some great little biscuits and cake you could buy that were in keeping with the Alice theme.

Once the kids had finished getting their craft on, we went downstairs for a dance and it was so nice hearing music that I used to love and dance to when I was clubbing in the 90’s! I love new music as well but there is nothing like a trip down memory lane and a bit of nostalgia. It’s a nice reminder that there was life before kids and gave me the feeling that it’s possible to go and dance with your kids. Hearing Raze - 'Break for Love' and Groove Armada brought me so much happiness. The venue felt really safe for the kids, although I'm not yet comfortable with the older ones (aged 6) going off on their own quite yet, even though it was a small enough place. Every now and then there would be bubbles and confetti bombs going off and towards the end of the event the parachute came out and everyone piled underneath it.

My favourite memories of Sunday afternoon were dancing with Isla to Neneh Cherry's Buffalo Stance. Such a classic song and a reminder that before kids I LOVED music and I need to start sharing the music I love with them more. And also lifting Noah up to pop the bubbles as they came down from above.

At the end the kids were given a box of Bear Nibbles and a Happy Monkey Smoothie which was such a lovely touch and we went on our way, slightly sweaty and after being in a dimly lit pub for the past two hours, marvelling that it was daylight outside (something that if you went clubbing back in the day you would also marvel about at 6am outside Leisure Lounge or Ministry of Sound!).

I'm personally getting very excited about getting my Big Fish Little Fish fix at Camp Bestival in the summer and I'm considering a CB warm up at one of the three events BFLF are holding in the run up to the festival.

Sunday, 5 April 2015

This photo was taken at the end of a really brilliant day with my sister and our kids at Bocketts Farm. Who can resist the lure of holding a baby lamb? A symbol of springtime and new beginnings. It's not the best photo but I was so thrilled to be allowed to hold this beautiful baby. There were many lambs born on the farm that day and the pen full of expectant sheep in one of the barns gave me such an exciting feeling. New life happening right there.

I love this time of year, it feels like there is real possibility in the air, fresh starts and my post about 'Change' at the beginning of the year is starting to come in to effect. A new job is only a month away, I've blogged a bit more than I did for the whole of last year, I've started some exercise, I've been working on photography, thanks to doing an online course and my eating and diet have seen some improvements. 2015 feels like a fresh start for me.

Wednesday, 1 April 2015

I buy a lot of the kids clothes from H&M. I usually go in and do a big splurge getting all their essentials in one go, and most recently I've done a few shops online and I've found it an easy process. I find that their clothes are inexpensive, durable and also on trend. Noah lives in jogging bottoms in the winter/ spring months and they do such great joggers, in a range of colours and they are such good value. I love these bright orange ones. They also do brilliant logo and slogan T-shirts and when I saw this one I had to get it for him - he's a big Batman fan and it's raised a smile on most people's face when they've read it.

T-shirt: £5.99Joggers: £5.99 (these were on a 3 for 2 deal)I got Isla a couple of really sweet bird print summer dresses at the same time, which fit in with her new found love of birds. I'll post those another time.